John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band – Shaved Fish (2014 Reissue on 180g Vinyl)

Released on 20 October 1975, Shaved Fish is a compilation album by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band. It contains all of the singles that he had issued up to that point in the United States as a solo artist, with the exception of Stand by Me, which had been released earlier that year. The only compilation of Lennon’s non-Beatles recordings released during his lifetime, the album peaked at No. 8 in the UK and No. 12 in the US.

At the time of its original release, Shaved Fish didn't attract as much attention as any compilation of John Lennon's work would have either a few years before or a few years after. Lennon had just issued the somewhat disappointing genre album, Rock 'n' Roll, and was only a year from Walls and Bridges, not one of his strongest albums, and had also grown somewhat stale as a public figure. Drawing on his singles up to that point in his career, it shows a punkier, more defiant vision of Lennon's work than subsequent compilations, which would dwell on a broader cross section of his output.

Happy Christmas and Imagine are moments of peace in the company of artifacts from his political/agitprop Power to the People and primal scream Mother periods, and his attempts at topical songwriting Woman Is the Nigger of the World, and Whatever Gets You Through the Night, which was unique to this LP, was a better piece of mainstream rock & roll than any of the late-'50s numbers that he ground out for Rock 'n' Roll.

Track Listing

Side One

1. Give Peace a Chance
2. Cold Turkey
3. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
4. Power to the People
5. Mother
6. Woman is the Nigger of the World

Side Two

1. Imagine
2. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
3. Mind Games
4. #9 Dream
5. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) / Give Peace a Chance (Reprise)

Format: Vinyl / 12” Album

Label: Commercial Marketing

Catalogue No: 5351112

Barcode: 600753511121

Release Date: 14 Jul 2014